


You Have No New Messages

by fightforyourwrite



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Pokegear, Post-Canon, Regret, Voicemail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 01:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8690476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fightforyourwrite/pseuds/fightforyourwrite
Summary: Now sitting upright, Red looks down at the device in his hands. On the screen below the box displaying the message is two buttons, one a bright green with the letter ‘y’ inside, and another a bright cherry with the letter ‘n’ inside. His thumb is not touching the screen at all, instead opting to hover over the two options in front of him as Red lets himself think.
Red has no idea which button he wants to press.
Burningleafshipping (Red x Leaf)





	

**Author's Note:**

> There's been a slight lack of Burningleafshipping things as of lately. Not sure why, but I intend to change that. Enjoy.

When Red picks up his Pokegear, he realizes that it must have been ages since he even touched the damn device. 

It used to be a gadget that he kept ready on him at all times. It had a home on his left wrist before ultimately being moved to his left pocket. It stayed in that pocket for a long time, providing nothing but dead weight to a person who was constantly on the move. 

Inevitably, the little device was demoted from the pocket the day Red threw it inside his backpack without a second thought. He had forgotten about putting it there less than an hour after doing so.

The phantom weight of the Pokegear on his person was forgotten about in moments. It never rang again, nor did it ever get touched until now. 

The first time Red picks it up after all these years is when he’s on a ship to Unova. The only reason he’s on the ship is because he accepted an invitation to a tournament in a far away land, and now it’s too late for him to change his mind and go back.

The small cabin he’s sleeping in is empty with the exception of him. The only thing keeping the room from being completely dark is a small lamp bolted to a desk. Red lies back on the bed and holds the device above him, hovering his fingers over the buttons. 

Curiously, the champion trainer presses the  _ on _ button and lets the screen light up. 

His Pokegear is practically a fossil now compared to the Holo Casters and Xtransceivers every trainer seemed to be running around with these days, but the electronics in the system still work. The operating software feels aged, but a soothing sense of nostalgia fills Red as he scrolls through the menu and looks at the features of the old device.

The first thing Red realizes is that the maps and radio can’t function while on foreign waters. He sighs and keeps exploring, seeing if he can either find something interesting or bore himself enough to make him fall asleep. 

There’s no service for the phone function to work, but he scrolls through his contacts just for fun to remember familiar names and people. 

Blue, Erika, Blaine, Daisy, Bill, the Professor himself, they are still there even after all this time. 

As Red scrolls through the names of the people he used to know, he sees an exclamation point on the corner of the screen.

Forgetting what the exclamation point means, he presses it with his thumb and hears automated tone of the device start up. 

_ You have one new message. _

_ “Hi, Red. It’s me. I really need to talk to you. I-”  _

That’s when he stops it. He clicks an icon on the screen with a scarlet  _ x _ on it and the voice in the machine stops playing from the speakers. 

A box on the Pokegear screen pops up and asks the question:

**_Would you like to delete this message?_ **

**_Y? N?_ **

_ [You cannot undo this action] _

Suddenly alert, Red sits up on the cabin bed and stares down at the device with heavy eyes. The comprehension of what he had stumbled upon is only starting to settle inside of him.

He realizes that he still recognizes her voice, no matter how long it’s been since he last saw her. Remembering it feels like a distant echo to him, a noise heard from far off that catches him off guard. 

Red hadn’t expected to hear Leaf’s voice in there. He didn’t even expect that he would ever hear it again.

The gears in his brain start to work, all the thoughts in his head start to spin. 

He wonders about the message; how old it is, when was it sent, how long had it been waiting inside his Pokegear for him. 

Now sitting upright, Red looks down at the device in his hands. On the screen below the box displaying the message is two buttons, one a bright green with the letter ‘ _ y’ _ inside, and another a bright cherry with the letter ‘ _ n’ _ inside. His thumb is not touching the screen at all, instead opting to hover over the two options in front of him as Red lets himself think.

Red has no idea which button he wants to press. 

Something about Leaf’s voice brought a sudden feeling of remembrance to him. Only a few seconds of hearing Leaf’s voice made him suddenly remember a girl he had parted ways with a long time ago. 

He remembers a pair of heartful green eyes, a bright smile that always lit up her entire face, and a passionate drive to always make herself better. He remembers holding her hand and walking with her, listening to her ramble on about whatever happened to interest her that week. He remembers smiling whenever he listened to her talk. 

It’s really hard to forget Leaf when Red realizes that she may be one of the most unforgettable people that he’s ever met. 

Red’s thumb is still hovering over the two buttons. He’s still unsure on which one to pick. 

There’s a long period of silence inside the cabin. The only noise detectable comes from the waves outside, each droplet crashing onto the ship’s metal hull to create a soft, yet harsh noise that radiates into a hum that spreads around the entire boat. 

The beeping noise of Red selecting a button does eventually sound through the small room. 

Immediately, a pang of regret sinks down inside Red’s stomach and keeps getting lower and lower with every passing second. He clicks buttons and presses icons until audio starts to play from the device. 

_ You have no new messages.  _

Anxiety filling every single part of his body, Red’s fingers fumble on the device and frantically start pressing what he can to undo his mistake. 

_ You have no new messages.  _

_ You have no new messages.  _

In his free hand, Red scrunches a handful of the cabin bed’s sheets inside the tightest fist he can muster. In his other, Red’s grip on the device gets stronger and stronger until he swears that the gear would break inside his bare hand. 

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages.  _

He keeps pressing the button, as if miraculously, pressing it over and over again will suddenly erase the mistake he had made only seconds ago. 

_ You have no new messages.  _

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages.  _

_ You have no new messages.  _

Remorse clouds his vision and drives his every move, but it doesn’t matter what Red does. He presses the button with all his might, but it does nothing for him, absolutely nothing. All it will ever do is keep reminding him of his misstep. He can already feel the dissatisfying feeling of anguish forming inside of him, a feeling that Red knows he will dwell on for a long time. 

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages. _

_ You have no new messages. _


End file.
